


Together

by My_Evak_Heart



Series: ELIOTT + LUCAS [7]
Category: SKAM (France)
Genre: Anxiety Attacks, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-26
Updated: 2019-01-26
Packaged: 2019-10-16 10:43:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 961
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17548172
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/My_Evak_Heart/pseuds/My_Evak_Heart
Summary: Lucas has an anxiety attack and Eliott helps him trough it





	Together

“Where is he?” Eliott asked the boys, a little out of breath.

The second he received Yann’s text saying Lucas wasn’t feeling well, he bolted from his seat and ran across the school to get to him. Was he hurt? Does he need to get to the hospital?

Yann shrugged. “I don’t know. He took off.”

Eliott pulled his phone and tried hit Lucas’s contact, aka ‘Mon Amour ❤’ and pressed the phone against his hear. It rang three times before it went to voicemail:  _You’ve reached Lucas. Don’t leave a message, I won’t listen it_.

“Where are you, Lucas,” Eliott asked under his breath before pressing call again. He pushed open classroom doors, checking inside for a familiar face but, nothing. “Come on. Pick up, pick u-”

The phone stopped ringing, replaced by a scratching noise, soon followed by Lucas’s faint voice. “ _Eli_.”

Eliot sighed. A part of him was relieved to hear his boyfriend’s voice but, he called him ‘Eli’ and Lucas only ever used that nickname when he needed Eliott, when he was in  _distress_ , which didn’t ease the older boy’s worries. Quite the contrary.

“Where are you, baby? Yann said-”

“Bathro-om. H-hur-ry.” He could hear some shallow breaths and some wheezing coming from the other side of the phone. Was Lucas sick? Stomach flu has been going around lately.

Eliott did as told and hurried to the boys bathroom at the end of the hall. 

“Lucas?”

He pushed the first stall: empty. In the next one, however, he found a crying and hyperventilating Lucas on the tiled floor. By instinct, Eliott sunk to his knees without worrying about the cleanliness of the floor and rushed to his boy’s side.

Lucas couldn’t see Eliott through his tears but, he felt his presence. “Can’t bre-athe,” he said with difficulty, feeling his throat closing as tears streamed down his face. “Hu-rts,” he added, a hand over his chest, small fingers trembling.

Eliott quickly put two and two together, recognizing Lucas’s behavior as an anxiety attack. Trouble breathing, choking sensation, hyperventilation, chest pain. All signs of anxiety attack.

Whatever triggered Lucas’s anxiety was clouding his common sense, blurring the lines between reality and imagination, tricking him into thinking he was about to pass out - or  _die_.

Although he had never had an anxiety attack, Eliott knew what not to do and say. Telling the person to calm down will only worsen the situation; you need to make them feel  _safe_. In order to do that, they needed someone they are completely comfortable with around them,  someone that can assure them everything is going to be okay. Eliott  _was_  that person for Lucas.

“Shh, I’m here. It’s gonna be okay, baby. You’re  _safe_  with me.”

Carefully, Eliott reached out to touch Lucas, testing the waters. Some people don’t like to be touched when they are in crisis and, this being the first time Eliott ever witnessed Lucas having an anxiety attack, he wasn’t sure if he’d be okay or not to touch him. He knew his boyfriend was  an anxiety driven person. The subject had come up during one of their pillowtalk and, knowing this small bit of personal information about Lucas made Eliott feel less alone. He wasn’t the only one struggling with his head.

While Eliott desperately wanted to know what triggered bis beautiful boy’s anxiety, he had more important matter in front of him. He needed to help Lucas stabilise his breathing. It was time to put to good use some calming exercises he learnt at therapy.  

“Can you close your eyes for me?” Lucas nodded and closed his eyes. “Good. Now, give me your hands.” Eliott grabbed his shaking hands in his, kissing their palms before placing them over his chest so Lucas would copy his breathing pattern. “Breathe with me. Can you do that? In…out. In…out. In-”

Dr Desjardins - Eliott’s therapist - said that 80 percent of sensory stimulation comes in through the eyes, so shutting them every now and then gives your brain a much-needed break. It also helps concentration. Given how gone - deep in his head - Lucas seemed, Eliott figured it would help regulate his breathing.

Between each breath, Eliott placed encouraging words in between like 'you’re doing amazing’ or 'that’s it, baby, breathe slow’ which ended being very helpful. It showed Lucas he was getting better, that he would get through it.

Once the storm had passed and Lucas was able to breathe, Eliott wiped his tears with his sleeve and decided to ask what happened.

“Wanna tell me what caused this anxiety attack?” He didn’t want Lucas to feel forced to say anything. Forcing information out of him could trigger another anxiety attack.

Lucas looked down, casting his eyes on the tiled floor. “It’s dumb…”

Really, it _was_.

“Hey,” Eliott cupped Lucas’s chin between his thumb and index, tilting his head up. A sensation of safety washed over him at his lover’s touch and he lifted his gaze, meeting Eliott’s blue-gray irises. Eliott caressed Lucas’s face softly and tenderly while looking at him lovingly in the eyes. “ _Nothing is dumb_ , you hear me? If it triggered your anxiety, it’s not dumb. It matters to you and you don’t have to be ashamed. Whatever it is.”

Lucas released a breath and nodded slowly. “I didn’t want you to see me like this. Ugly crying and all. I thought I could get through it on my own but…clearly, I failed.”

“It’s okay not to be okay. It won’t make me love you less.” Lucas’s cheeks flushed, still not used to being loved in a non-platonic way. Eliott took his hands between his and brought them to his lips, kissing the milky skin. “And, remember what you said: we’re in this to-”

“ _Together_ ,” Lucas finished.


End file.
